


You Do Something To Me

by ginger_timelady



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-23
Updated: 2014-11-23
Packaged: 2018-02-26 16:46:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2659187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ginger_timelady/pseuds/ginger_timelady
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Ninth Doctor wasn't lying when he said he'd danced before.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Do Something To Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [manta_rays_on_gallifrey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/manta_rays_on_gallifrey/gifts).



“It’s time for a rest, Romana,” said the Doctor. “Why don’t you have a nice hot bath and then rest for awhile? I’m not in a rush to find the next segment of the Key, you look exhausted, and as for me,” he continued, unwinding that ever-present and ridiculously long and colorful scarf, “all that fencing on Tara has done me in.”

Romana would have objected, but the Doctor was right. She _was_ quite exhausted.

“All right, then, Doctor,” she said. “A bath and then a nap. You know where to find me.”

“Very good.”

Romana left the console room of the TARDIS and found her private bathing room. It was rather lovely, that room, and certainly much nicer than the one she’d shared with four other Time Ladies at the Academy. For one thing, it was hers and hers alone. For another - well! There was a separate shower stall, a simply enormous tub, a sink and vanity, and all the beautifully fragrant and colorful bath products a young, fashionable Time Lady with a secret sensuous streak could ever want, need, or imagine.

First she showered off, then drew a hot bath. And as she soaked, she pondered the latest dilemma she needed to tackle.

The Doctor.

At first, she had most emphatically _not_ liked him, thank you very much. He was a right arrogant so-and-so, for one thing. For another, well, he’d made it clear that he didn’t like her much, either. Romana was not the strongest telepath ever to come out of the Academy, but she didn’t need telepathy to tell what he had thought of her. He’d made it abundantly clear that he considered her a snob, a bore, a swot, and a vain clotheshorse. 

Things had changed though. Now, they worked together well. Romana had felt herself warming up to him considerably. And she thought - she hoped - that he was warming to her, as well. Now...

She blushed. She’d wondered what he was like, in moments when he didn’t feel he had to show off. What would it be like to embrace him? He was quite tall - her head would be against his chest - and she would hear the beating of his hearts. For a Time Lady with little experience matters romantic, that idea seemed immensely intimate. Would he want to kiss her? Would he find her a good kisser? She’d only ever kissed one other Time Lord. All the other students at the Academy had formed liaisons as easy as breathing, but she had only one memory that she could count as romantic.

_And how did I snare him?_ , thought Romana. _Wait. If I can figure out how I managed to snare_ him _, perhaps I can use that to make the Doctor notice me._

She pulled the plug on the tub to let the water drain and toweled herself off. _Right. I’ll think of this in a more comfortable setting _. She dried her hair, donned her robe, and headed back to her bedroom. Changing into her nightgown, she began to recall the one romantic night she’d had in all her century and a half.__

__*****_ _

___It had been her last year at the Academy. Exams were over, and as usual, there was a fancy-dress party to celebrate. Romana had never been able to resist a chance to dress up, and so had gone at it with gusto. She’d dressed herself in the day dress of noblewomen from the planet Caledon (Delta Leonis Four). There had been a long, full skirt of blue and green tartan, a lovely white blouse with a flowing lace jabot at the chin, and a tartan sash to match her skirt that went over her shoulder and fastened at the hip. Her long brown curls had been tamed into a braid that formed a coronet around her head, and there she was. She had been quite satisfied with how it had turned out._ _ _

___However, the party itself was turning into a bore. For an hour she had air-kissed and shaken hands, exchanged pleasantries, and nibbled on various hors d’oeuvres. She stood in the corner with her cup of punch (spiked, as it was every year), and considered her options. The dancing was just now starting up. How she loved to dance! Her dancing master at the Academy had been unstinting in his praise of her form. But finding a dance partner - well, that was the problem. Her reserve and shyness had led many at the Academy to conclude that she was haughty and cold. Her excellence at all subjects, and inability to contain her knowledge, had led her to be labeled a swot. Wonderful for her grades, that had been, but woeful for her finding a dance partner. She looked longingly at the dance floor._ _ _

___“Excuse me,” came a soft tenor voice from beside her. She looked up. It was a young Time Lord. His face was open and friendly, framed by light brown hair. His eyes were dark, and his smile quite sweet. He was dressed in a curious costume - dark trousers, a light blue buttoned-down shirt, braces, and over it all a blue-gray greatcoat._ _ _

___“Yes?” she said._ _ _

___“I couldn’t help but notice you were alone,” he said, “and I wondered if you would like to dance with me.”_ _ _

___She cocked her head, eyes widening._ _ _

___“I would love to,” she replied._ _ _

___He led her to the floor. He was himself an excellent dancer. And after the first dance, he was not inclined to let her go. He had stayed as her partner for the rest of the dances - the slow, intricate figured dances demanded by tradition; the more fast-paced, loose-limbed dances all the rage amongst the younger set; and finally the sweet, gentle last dance of the evening. And even though they had not really spoken, she felt a great desire on her part for this enchanting young Time Lord._ _ _

___After the last dance, they slowly exited the ballroom._ _ _

___“Can I walk you home?” he asked._ _ _

___“Certainly,” she said. He grasped her hand, and she laughed, pulling his arm around her. Thus they walked all the way back to the accommodation for Time Ladies._ _ _

___“I had a lovely evening,” she said to him._ _ _

___“As did I,” he said. And he’d put his arms around her, and kissed her._ _ _

___That had shocked her. The warmth of it, as he’d held her close and touched his lips to hers, her mouth opening, the warmth flowing through her veins - she’d never felt anything like to it...._ _ _

__****_ _

__She stopped the reverie cold. _That’s it!_ she thought triumphantly. _Dancing!_ She had never seen that young Time Lord after - they had plucked her off to go with the Doctor before she had screwed her courage to the wall to ask him to see her again - but now she knew. Surely the Doctor would be entranced by dancing. _ _

__But what kind of dancing?_ _

__She considered for a moment. His favorite planet was Earth, his favorite era - near as she could tell - the twentieth century, as they reckoned things. She’d been at his music collection, and thought she knew what would go well and when - and where on Earth to go. Now she could snare him in. They would dance together, and then - well, maybe he would kiss her._ _

__Perhaps he would do more._ _

__She blushed again, but thought the idea very nice. And at that pleasant thought, she fell to sleep._ _

__*****  
“You look well, Romana,” said the Doctor, as she entered the console room. She’d dressed herself for the place she wanted to take the Doctor - a soft pink bias-cut dress with a full skirt that clung to her curves. Her hair she’d done simply, leaving the dark curls loose. She’d added a small velvet hat, a matching clutch, and long gloves._ _

__“Thank you, Doctor,” she said. “So do you.”_ _

__He laughed._ _

__“Doctor, I’d wondered if I might ask something of you,” she said._ _

__“All right,” he said._ _

__“May I take us somewhere?” she asked._ _

__“Where did you have in mind?”_ _

__“Earth. 1930’s. London.”_ _

__He looked at her with a smile playing on his lips._ _

__“All right, Romana. You’ve certainly dressed for the occasion.”_ _

__“Do you not like it, Doctor?”_ _

__He laughed. “I love it. You look ravishing, my dear.”_ _

__She went to the controls, and executed a perfect landing._ _

__“Shall we?”  
The Doctor offered his arm, and she took it. They stepped out into a spring evening in London. Romana looked around, orienting herself, and spotted the place she’d found in the Doctor’s library after she’d awakened from her nap._ _

__“Here, Doctor,” she said, as they went to the door. The doorman looked at them oddly - her costume was fine, but the Doctor certainly looked outré. She pulled psychic paper from her clutch and showed it to the doorman. He nodded, and opened the door for them._ _

__“What is this place, Romana?” he asked._ _

__“A nightclub. You spent so much time on Earth - you never patronized a nightclub?”_ _

__The Doctor chuckled. “Well, perhaps once or twice, but never in this era. I was a bit later, you see. Things had changed drastically.”_ _

__“Same purpose, though,” she rejoined._ _

__“Oh? And that would be?”_ _

__She blushed. _Damn him_._ _

__“To dance,” she said._ _

__“In that case, my dear Romana, may I have this one?” he asked._ _

__“Most definitely,” she said, and he led her onto the dance floor._ _

__He was not a bad dancer, as it turned out. He was quite skilled at Earth dances she’d only touched on at the Academy - the foxtrot, the waltz, the Lindy Hop. After the first few dances, she found herself almost perfectly synced to his rhythm. It was, as humans would put it, magical._ _

__They announced the last dance, and the band began to play._ _

__“You do something to me,” crooned the blond girl singing._ _

__Romana raised one hand to the Doctor’s neck, and he placed one at the small of her back. Together they swayed to the gentle strains of Cole Porter, and Romana looked up into the Doctor’s eyes._ _

__Those blue eyes seemed immensely deep as he returned her gaze. His face radiated contentment. She moved closer to him as the song ended and he kissed the top of her head with great tenderness._ _

__“Back to the TARDIS, then?” he murmured, taking her hand._ _

__“Oh, yes,” she said._ _

__They made it inside. And just as the Doctor shut the door behind them, he turned to Romana._ _

__“Romana, my dear,” he said._ _

__“Yes, Doctor?” she said._ _

__“I don’t want to go to my bed alone,” he said. “I’m sorry. Perhaps I should have put it more elegantly? I - I’m not so good at this. It’s just that - well, as the singer said. You do something to me.”_ _

__She smiled._ _

__“Kiss me, Doctor. And we’ll go from there, all right?”_ _

__His answer, though not verbal, was everything she could have wanted, and everything that she had dreamed._ _


End file.
